The Text of Matthew in the Writings of Basil of Caesarea.

• Author: Van Dam, Raymond
• Position: Book review

The Text of Matthew in the Writings of Basil of Caesarea. By JEAN-FRANCOIS RACINE. SBL New Testament in the Greek Fathers, vol, 5. Atlanta: SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE, 2004. Pp. xvi + 424. $49.95 (paper).

The emperor Julian always felt uneasy about the dual nature of his education. Growing up in Cappadocia, he had studied both classical texts and the Bible with a local churchman. But once he became emperor he openly rejected the Christianity of his youth, supported pagan cults, and imposed restrictions on Christian teachers. In his estimation, since Christians did not believe in the traditional gods who were so integral to the canonical texts of classical Greek culture, they should instead confine their teaching to "commentaries on Matthew and Luke." Basil of Caesarea was a contemporary with an equally fine education in biblical studies and classical culture. In fact, as a young boy one of his teachers may have been his father, a local grammarian who taught correct classical Greek. But once he began serving as a priest and bishop in Cappadocia during the 360s and 370s, he downplayed the importance of classical literature and instead frequently cited the Gospels and the Pauline letters in his sermons, letters, and ascetic treatises. His writings are hence an important early source for determining the development of the text of the New Testament in the early church.

Jean-Francois Racine now provides a meticulous examination of Basil's reading of the Gospel of Matthew. His research is part of the ongoing project to study Greek patristic texts as evidence for textual criticism of the New Testament. Basil used passages from Matthew for various purposes, as the starting point for a sermon about the responsibilities of the rich toward the poor, as support for his theology of the Holy Spirit, and as testimony in responses to questions about asceticism. Racine's book includes a long catalogue of the citations, allusions, and adaptations from Matthew in all of Basil's writings. Although this scrupulous catalogue and the accompanying tables of data...